A better understanding of the effect of low TDS water on the human body requires a basic understanding of the body’s mechanism in this respect. Following is a description of the relevant mechanism.
Homeostasis is the maintenance of static or constant conditions in the internal body environment. This natural process controls the mineral (ion) and the water concentrations in the body fluids within narrow limits inside and outside all the cells in all the organs and tissues of the body. The kidneys are most important in maintaining constant ion concentrations (including sodium, potassium, calcium, etc.) through elimination and reabsorption.
In homeostasis, three body fluids are involved: plasma (approximately 3/5 of the blood volume), interstitial fluid (the fluid between cells), and intracellular (fluid inside the cells). The concentration of sodium ions is highest outside the cell, and potassium ions are highest inside the cell. When the osmotic pressure is high on one side of the cell membrane (high concentration of ions), and low on the other side, water moves across the cell membrane from the dilute side toward the other side to equalize the osmotic pressure. This phenomenon is known as osmosis. [This is unlike reverse osmosis, which occurs when outside pressure is applied to the concentrated side, pushing the water back to the dilute side.] The normal osmolality (concentration of ions) of all these fluids is about 300 milliosmoles per liter (mOsm/L (- 9,000 ppm).
Changes from normal ion concentration across the cell membrane are corrected in one minute or less because water moves quickly through cell membranes. Thus, small changes in osmolality from drinking purified water (0 to 100 mg/L TDS) are quickly brought to equilibrium.
The kidneys control the overall concentration of the constituents of body fluids. It filters about 180 liters (165 quarts) of water per day, but over 99% is reabsorbed, and only 1.0 to 1.5 liters are eliminated as urine. If the osmolality of the fluid to be filtered by the kidney is lower than normal (low solute concentration – such as low TDS water), nervous and hormonal feedback mechanisms cause the kidney to excrete more water than normal and thus maintain the ion concentration in the body fluid to normal values. The opposite is true if the ion concentration of the fluid to be filtered is higher than normal. This kidney homeostatic mechanism keeps the body fluid osmolality normal. The osmolality of the fluid to be filtered by the kidney is controlled to ± 3% to maintain it at the normal level of 300 mOsm/L. The three basic hormonal and nervous control systems triggered by abnormal ion concentration in the body fluids filtered by the kidney are antidiuretic hormone (ADH) from the pituitary gland, aldosterone from the adrenal glands, and thirst (as a rise in osmolality by about 1% causes thirst).
Because of these kidney control mechanisms, drinking one liter of water would cause the urine output to increase about nine times after about 45 minutes (due to water absorption in the gut) and continue for about two hours. Thus, the concentrations of solutes in the blood and other body fluids are quickly maintained by the kidney through homeostasis. These control 3 mechanisms keep the sodium concentration at ± 7%. In addition, calcium secretion is controlled by parathyroid hormone to ± a few percent in the extracellular body fluid.
Also, saliva increases ion concentrations during water intake. The concentration of sodium chloride in the saliva is typically 15 milliequivalents per liter (mEq/L) or 877 mg/L; potassium ion is about 30 mEq/L (1170 mg/L). As distilled water is consumed, it is combined with saliva, which increases the TDS before it reaches the gut to be absorbed (e.g., each one milliliter of saliva can increase the TDS level in eight ounces of water consumed by about 10 mg/L).
Thus, based on the above highly credible and up-to-date textbook knowledge*, it is evident that consumption by a healthy person of low TDS water alone cannot cause unhealthy systems. [‘Healthy person’ means free of disease, hormonal problems, etc., and not necessarily a healthy diet.] Of course, homeostasis is maintained by diet, as are other body functions. If homeostasis is not maintained because of major diet deficiencies, disease, or hormonal dysfunction; consuming low TDS water would be a minor (if any) factor in any observed symptoms. Disease, physiological dysfunction, or major nutritional deficiencies may cause a “leaching” problem, but not consuming one to two liters of low TDS water daily.
*Adapted with updated grammar and syntax from Guyton, Arthur L., M.D. Textbook of Medical Psychology Eighth Edition, W.B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia (1991).
Distilled water in aging.
As our body begins to age, several things happen. Cells don’t produce as well, the body doesn’t digest as well, the body does not absorb as well, and the body does not eliminate as well. And areas of the body begin to feel pain and have sore spots that we never had before. One of the major causes of pain is the overconsumption of grain in older people. It is softer, easier to eat, and appears to be more easily digested. Well, the true reality is that it is no benefit to the aging body and leaves an acidic residue that gets deposited in the joints, which is the number one reason for arthritic pain.
Many years ago, when I was researching distilled water, I discovered that contrary to all the stories out there, distilled water does not take a single thing out of the body that the body needs. It never takes anything out of a cell. Everything that is cellularly locked remains within the body, but it is the greatest tool in the world for cleaning out the bloodstream, which is the only function water really has…to wash out, cleanse and purify the bloodstream. Remember that the bloodstream is primarily an organ of transport. People think of it as a liquid rather than an organ, but it is an organ. It transports nutrients, oxygen, and red blood cells throughout the body and carries away waste products and carbon dioxide.
Distilled water has been evaporated into a vapor, split apart into a molecule of hydrogen and oxygen, turning them into a gas that rises into the atmosphere, then cooled back down and condensed back into the water. The same process happens in a distillery when it distills water. It heats the water into a gas; all the impurities and waste products are left behind. Then it is condensed and turned back into pure water and becomes the ultimate pure water because of one crucial factor that is not present in any other water…it is molecularly unstable. It means that when it goes into your bloodstream, it breaks apart easier and latches on to debris, waste products, and unwanted materials that are floating around in your bloodstream.
It is also one of the best ways there is for reducing blood pressure. I made up two charts years ago when I was doing my studies on body detoxification with distilled water, from 1865 to 1965. In 1865, diseases that ranked in the high 30’s and low 40’s became the first four killers in 1965…and they were all cardiovascular. I then made another chart from 1865 to 1965 to show the reduction in the use of drinking rainwater. The two charts were virtually biometrically opposite. As people quit drinking rainwater, cardiovascular diseases went up. When the blood vascular system is clean, you have fewer headaches, and you have less pain, you have more oxygen and nutrients available for the body, and more healing capacity for the body.
It was almost twenty years ago now that a man came down to my office that had arthritis so bad he could hardly get out of a straight-backed chair. His pain was excruciating. We put him on the detoxification program, took him off of all grain in his diet, instructed him to eat only fruit, vegetables, protein, and meat products, and put him on distilled water every half hour while he was awake. It is hard to believe a month later, this same man was out working in his garden having the time of his life.
The importance of drinking distilled water for the cleansing of the bloodstream, reducing arthritic pain, and lowering blood pressure cannot be emphasized enough. It has also been known to reduce cholesterol and triglycerides. In fact, the only effect on the body is healthy.
There are rules of thumb on how much water to drink. The rule of thumb on a normal day is one-half your body weight in ounces per day. You should drink more if you are sweating and exerting yourself; not less. We tend to grab a soda, coffee, Kool-Aid, and juices, but we need to get back to the habit of grabbing distilled water.